Albion Online:how about the current state or future of the game?

Hi all,

this post is for those of you who might be concerned about the current state or future of the game.
Have you ever wondered why some feature or balancing in the game is what it currently is?
Have you asked yourself what the hell we, the developers, where thinking when doing something the way it is currently done in the game?
Do you want to know why a perceived issue in the game, even though it has been known for some time, is not yet fixed?
How to buy Albion Online Gold?
We want to share our development philosophy with you and also help you manage your expections when it comes to the future development of Albion Online.

1) Do the devs think the game is perfect as is?
Our current internal development backlog – which is far more extensive then the one we have shared publically – contains more than 350 different items, bugs not included. An “item” here can range from general topics such as various UI and Quality of Life improvements, but also things like increasing the world map size, changing the layout of zones, adding more content or entire new game mechanics such as fishing, more sandbox elements, open world PvP with constructable buildings, etc.
That backlog is being constantly adjusted, expanded and cleaned up. At the moment, it is growing faster than listed issues get resolved, but at some point, we will get to a stage where that is no longer the case, and we have a backlog of, say, 50 items, with some being done and some being added every week.

It is only when we are at this stage that we, the developer’s, will say that the game is at or close to its potential. This stage is still far away, probably at least 12 months. This is actually great news from our point of view, as the game already has a lot to offer, meaning that it has the chance to be truly gear further down the road. We have stated many times that Albion Online is for the long term. We want to game to be alive and kicking even 10 years from now, and this is what we are working towards.

2) Why is such and such feature the way it is? Why is such and such item not balanced? What were the devs thinking?
The reason why our development pace is so fast despite the fact that we are a small team is that we are taking an agile approach. We implement new features quickly, we make changes quickly, knowing full well that the initial set-up might not be perfect or that a change might not work out as intended at first. Why are we doing this? If you move fast, there is a good chance that you get it right quickly. If you don’t, you can still adjust and fix it. If you try to make every change “perfect” at the first go, it will take you much much longer.

Many companies know that the agile approach is probably better than the “top-down get it right at the first trial approach”. However, they still go for the latter as many companies and their customers cannot deal with originally imperfect features and changes. We actually face the same problems and hope that this posting helps to clarify the matter a bit.
In a nutshell: understand that we move fast and then fix problems as they appear as

opposed to trying to get everything perfect on the first go. If something in the game doesn’t feel right, there is a very good chance that we agree and already have it on our to do list. The more feedback you share, the better.You can buy Albion Online Gold.

3) Why is issue XYZ not fixed yet, even though it was already pointed out some time ago?
Any individual small issues – be it a bug, balancing matter, or even a rework of a core game mechanic – in principle usually does not take that much time. However, if you have more than 350 of them, you will have to prioritize. And this naturally means that some things take longer than others.

4) Help, I am feeling burned out!
If you feel burned out, take it easy or take a break. Beta will last at least until end of February, and after that, there will be a total server wipe anyways. In any event, we aim to have a least two more major updates during beta, the first in January, the second in February and will constantly making smaller and larger improvements throughout.